"Chocolate Obsession"

[Trishiad]

In a molded bonbon the end placement of the salt won't matter that much. If it were me, I might sprinkle the salt into the shell and then add the caramel. Or you could just mix it into the caramel and pipe as usual.

The softer your caramel is, the easier it will be to pipe into shells. I do a hand cut caramel that would never work in a bonbon. By the time it's cool enough to be anywhere near chocolate it's too firm to pipe. I use a very soft caramel in bonbons. If the caramel filling is giving me trouble when I pipe it I use my finger and thumb to squeeze out and pinch the tipless tip of the disposable bag. Remember that it's easier to add more filling than it is to remove excess.

Try tweaking your favorite sauce recipes for molded bonbons, caramel sauce or butterscotch as they have a much easier texture for piping and they're yummy too.

[John DePaula]

I second Trishiad's comments. Like her, I also use a soft caramel, which I pipe into the molded shells using a tipless piping bag.

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

That's why I am using Recchiuti's recipe for Rose Caramel filling...because it was intended for a molded chocolate. I like the idea of simply sprinkling the fleur de sel in the shell prior to adding the caramel...think I'll do that. Thanks.

[kitwilliams]

Michael did a demo last week at a new kitchenware store/culinary school I'm affiliated with. He's terrifically fun, so knowledgeable, and so willing to share all that knowledge. We had a packed class and, although it was rather a quiet group, they all gave glowing comments as they left, full of chocolates, caramels, brownies, cookies and hot milk chocolate malted. Delish.

I agree with you all that the book is beautiful but I prefer to purchase my chocolates so will leave that to Michael and the rest of you experts. However I have no problem with trying his baked recipes and tonight I am going to make the Triple Chocolate Cookies as, after tasting them last week, I have decided they are probably the best damn chocolate cookie I've ever eaten!

[Trishiad]

yep, those are my sons' favorite cookies now. did he use the italian cocoa? super yum.

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

Just to report back...

I ground my fleur de sel slightly in my mortar and pestle slightly to reduce the grain size and added it to my caramel. Like Wendy, I found that it had a tendency to sink in the pot. (I suspect that Michael has the same issue.) But I did continue to stir, and I could detect a slight taste of it in the final product.

I sprinkled a touch of salt in each shell finished the chocolates off. They turned out beautifully...quite a lovely flavor.

[annachan]

We went to the Chocolate Obseesion demo at Sur La Table last night and had a great time. Thinking of making burnt caramel truffle and triple chocolate cookies this weekend.

Other than the class, we got some pleasant surprises. On the way to Sur La Table, we discovered Richart chocolate on Sutter St. We picked up 2 boxes of chocolate there. At Sur La Table, I picked up some nice cooper ware and silicone spatulas for cheap. They have a special last night that we get 1/2 off any clearance items. I got a cooper pot, sautee pan w/ lid and 2 silicone spatulas for $250 (originally $650).

[Wendy DeBord]

My last batches with reg. salt....the salt incorporated as expected, it wasn't enough volume to taste the salt. Next time I'll see if I can incorporate the fleur de sel after the caramel has been poured into the pan to set. Finding the right density so it doesn't sit on top of the caramel nor sink to the bottom.

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

Wendy,

I did increase the amount of salt from what he called for in the recipe. His quantity just felt too light given the total volume. Also, grinding the fleur de sel did help some. What really made the taste come alive though was the sprinkle I put into each mold prior to filling.

[kitwilliams]

The Triple Chocolate Cookies are just awesome as when Michael made them. I was told he used Valrhona cocoa powder. I used Cacao Barry Brut.

If you haven't made them yet, do so. Now.

[onehsancare]

What is it about the Triple Chocolate Cookies that makes them so wonderful?

Is the recipe available anywhere but the book? (Google only found me some BOBBY FLAY Triple Chocolate Cookies--I think I'll skip those!)

[NWKate]

What is it about the Triple Chocolate Cookies that makes them so wonderful?

What isn't wonderful about triple chocolate anything?

Kate

[kitwilliams]

What is it about the Triple Chocolate Cookies that makes them so wonderful?

←

cocoa, dark and milk chocolate. fleur de sel. high-fat butter. roll into logs. slice thick and bake (best cookie DOUGH ever, as well. and, for you moms concerned about your kids eating raw eggs in dough -- there are NO EGGS in this dough!).

not quite as dense as shortbread (there is baking soda in them), not too sweet, they are ohsochocolatey.

my father has requested that I always have this dough on hand. forevermore.

buy the book. you'll learn a lot and, even if you aren't a maker of hand-dipped chocolates, there are other great recipes, ideas, and i think it will prove to be a terrific reference book.

[onehsancare]

I'm on the wagon for buying cookbooks for a while . . .

So, they sound like Korova with some milk chocolate?

I'll have to defer to others on the determination of the best cookie dough ever--Ling, have you tried these in a taste-off?

[WhiteTruffleGirl]

Given how much everyone has raved about these cookies I had to try them, so I made them last night. It certainly is an interesting recipe. I wasn't sure I was going to like them given how much sugar there is in them ( a full 1 1/4 cups between granulated and dark brown), as I tend to like my cookies (and all desserts for that matter) on the less sweet side.

Without prompting or telling him anything about the recipe, I asked my husband (who shares similar tastes) what he thought, and he said they were very chocolatey, but sweet. I would agree. I liked them, but they are a little sweet for my taste.

I think Recchiuti is right and the fleur de sel does help cut down some on the sweetness, but it is still a cookie that bends to the sweet side. Which is great for when you want that. In contrast, I tend more towards a cookie like Alice Medrich's Bittersweet Decadence which only has 1/2 cup of sugar. I know you can't really compare the two, they are very different kinds of cookies, but in terms of flavor profiles, they are kind of on the opposite ends of the sweetness scale.

[filipe]

I've received the book last friday, through amazon, and I am a bit disapointed with it. I was expecting more photos...

Anyway, the book is awesome and I can't wait to start trying some of those recipes

Edited February 19, 2006 by filipe (log)

[merlicky]

I made his burnt caramel truffles…with a slight modification. I used milk chocolate instead of bittersweet chocolate. After tasting them, I personally think that the dark is the way to go, but the people I was making them for don’t particularly care for dark chocolate. Anyway, they tasted really good when all was said and done.

It did take me two tries to get the flavor/texture right with the milk chocolate…the first time it was too soft and not caramely enough. The second time, when I played with the ratio of cream/caramel syrup/chocolate a little bit, they turned out wonderfully.

This weekend, I tried the malt honeycomb brittle truffles…actually they are still in process as the ganache needs to set up for a couple days.

One thing I learned…that wax paper is not parchment paper. The first attempt at the honeycomb brittle resulted in the brittle melting the wax on the paper and a lot of paper stuck to the bottom of the brittle. Lesson learned. Other than that, the brittle was fairly easy to make.

I had a bit of a time trying to find malt syrup for the ganache though. I had tried making malt truffles before by using Carnation malt powder, but it really didn’t work too well. So, for these I wanted to try using the malt syrup extract. I called all the gourmet and health food stores in my area, and none of them carried it. But, the last shop I called suggested a local brewery, Bell’s. I called up their store and they had dried malt extract, but no syrup extract. This was the best I could find, so I picked some up.

The syrup extract contains 20% water, so I used the powder at .8x the weight for the syrup in the recipe and filled the rest of the weight with added water. I was hoping that this would maintain the water content at the right level. I was only making a half batch but with all the calculating and scheming to try and use the dried extract, I forgot to halve the malt weight in the recipe. Therefore, these have a super malt content. Overall, I think the extra malt flavor is probably a plus…the ganache has a creamy malted milk ball taste and a good consistency.

I’ll roll these into balls this evening and then let them sit out until tomorrow to coat them and see what happens. So far so good…well at least no problems that I haven’t been able to work out.

UPDATE: I rolled them tonight...they have to be the stickiest ganache that I have ever made, but are still very creamy.

Edited February 5, 2008 by merlicky (log)